Spring Break
Murs for President weak, hang on to your votes
Joshua Aromin
Issue date: 10/23/08 Section: Entertainment
10/23/08 - In my short tenure with the Good 5 Cent Cigar, I've developed a nasty habit of choosing albums to review by the cover art. In the past, judging a CD by its cover art has led to some bad listening. And once again, I've been admonished for my actions by choosing a mediocre-at-best album.
This time around, rapper Murs is the culprit, dishing out a trivial cacophony of raps in the form of "15 Real Hip Hot Tracks" with his new album, Murs For President. And yes, on the CD case, there sure is a sticker that says, "15 Real Hip Hop Tracks."
Murs raps about different topics ranging anywhere from social injustice to what the definition of a hypothesis is. As a result, Murs for President doesn't seem to hold any kind of identity as to what kind of album it's supposed to be and sometimes, it's all over the place.
A notable oddity on the album is the song entitled, "The Science," where Murs raps about how hip-hop is "lost." He also raps on this track about the government and oppression.
He starts the rap by explaining a hypothesis and recording results. Murs sounds convinced that he's got everything figured out inside that head of his as he explains the different prison sentences for powdered cocaine and crack.
In the song, "Can It Be," Murs raps about the struggle of trying to stay alive and leading a successful future. In the middle of the song, Murs says, "And a wise man told me man, 'life is like a table full of like, glasses of water and your job is to keep them all full, you know what I'm saying? So everyone's happy but at the same time you got to keep your pitcher full of water so you can fill everybody else up, and it's like damn!"
Yes Murs, it is like damn. It's like damn because that blob of words is a long exaggerated way of explaining that we as people are expected to support our families and friends in times of need. But if you need an analogy about life as a pitcher of water to realize that, then more power to you Mr. Murs.
In the song, "Break Up (The O.J. Song)," It's unclear to me if Murs is rapping about a personal experience or reenacting what happened between O.J. Simpson and the slain Nicole Brown. In any case, Murs creates a person with a very insecure character. The song is about a breakup and relates the narrator's ridiculous persistence in trying to rekindle a failed relationship.
The rap is an odd progression from extreme confidence that deteriorates into wimpy vulnerability, adding to the ambiguous nature of the album.
Murs For President is a collection of songs that tries to touch upon every topic under the sun but does so unsuccessfully. Different songs seem to repudiate claims made in other songs. None of Murs' statements seem to be concrete and most of them seem to lack any kind of believability at all.
Happily, Murs isn't really running for president, as his musical campaign would clearly fall short.
This time around, rapper Murs is the culprit, dishing out a trivial cacophony of raps in the form of "15 Real Hip Hot Tracks" with his new album, Murs For President. And yes, on the CD case, there sure is a sticker that says, "15 Real Hip Hop Tracks."
Murs raps about different topics ranging anywhere from social injustice to what the definition of a hypothesis is. As a result, Murs for President doesn't seem to hold any kind of identity as to what kind of album it's supposed to be and sometimes, it's all over the place.
A notable oddity on the album is the song entitled, "The Science," where Murs raps about how hip-hop is "lost." He also raps on this track about the government and oppression.
He starts the rap by explaining a hypothesis and recording results. Murs sounds convinced that he's got everything figured out inside that head of his as he explains the different prison sentences for powdered cocaine and crack.
In the song, "Can It Be," Murs raps about the struggle of trying to stay alive and leading a successful future. In the middle of the song, Murs says, "And a wise man told me man, 'life is like a table full of like, glasses of water and your job is to keep them all full, you know what I'm saying? So everyone's happy but at the same time you got to keep your pitcher full of water so you can fill everybody else up, and it's like damn!"
Yes Murs, it is like damn. It's like damn because that blob of words is a long exaggerated way of explaining that we as people are expected to support our families and friends in times of need. But if you need an analogy about life as a pitcher of water to realize that, then more power to you Mr. Murs.
In the song, "Break Up (The O.J. Song)," It's unclear to me if Murs is rapping about a personal experience or reenacting what happened between O.J. Simpson and the slain Nicole Brown. In any case, Murs creates a person with a very insecure character. The song is about a breakup and relates the narrator's ridiculous persistence in trying to rekindle a failed relationship.
The rap is an odd progression from extreme confidence that deteriorates into wimpy vulnerability, adding to the ambiguous nature of the album.
Murs For President is a collection of songs that tries to touch upon every topic under the sun but does so unsuccessfully. Different songs seem to repudiate claims made in other songs. None of Murs' statements seem to be concrete and most of them seem to lack any kind of believability at all.
Happily, Murs isn't really running for president, as his musical campaign would clearly fall short.
